Another DIY multipurpose modifier for Speedlites

[Lotto]

Ever since got my first Alien Bees, I wanted a way to mount my home made modifier for the Bees. As this project progressed, few surprises popped up along the way.

The victim... Not my daughter, the green tub.

http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/tub.jpg

The making of the speedring
http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/tubcombo.jpg

For the 580 EX used as master (14 mm diffuser down).
http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/tubMaster.jpg

For 430 EX as slave (with Omi bouncer).
http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/tubSlave.jpg

And for the Bees.
http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/tubAB.jpg

Test Shot setup: master 580 in the tub with extended off shoe cord, 430 slave in a dish I made last year. Plus a white reflector.
http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/tub2lites.jpg

Round catchlights
http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/tubcatchlite.jpg

'Full body' shot
http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/tubfullbody.jpg

What you think?

[cdifoto]

Wow clever craftsmanship. It looks as good as it works - and that's rare. :)

[TMR Design]

Nice work!!! Impressive Mod. There should be a sticky or archive thread for DIY's.

[Nocturnus]

Sweet. I see a weekend project coming up for me.

Did you paint the tub? Any kind of covering inside the tub?

[TeeJay]

Nice work, (and I love the last shot BTW - I can almost here her saying, "look, is that really it now?")

You don't appear to have a shot of the inside of the modifier, did you line it with anything - or just paint it?

TJ

[TMR Design]

I'd be curious to see more of the design and method of mounting to the Alien Bees.

[Lotto]

Thanks all! Inside of the tub is painted gloss white. I could've added a round piece to cover the flash tube to make it beauty dish alike, but since this perticular tub has a flat bottom, I decided to use a cover/sock instead.

The polished stainless steel plate inside served two purposes: supports the weight and isolates the modeling light heat from the plastic tub.

http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/tubAB4.jpg

http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/tubAB2.jpg

[sapearl]

VERY nicely done - you are quite the POTN Engineer...kudos!

[cdifoto]

Really looks like something you'd buy.


How much ya want for it? ;)

[Nick_C]

Very nice job mate, infact you have inspired me to create something like that, you could have just gone out & purchased something but where is the fun in that? I get much more pleasure from making things than buying them.

Nick :-)

[Jason77]

wow, thats really cool!! i really enjoy seeing these DIY projects. they're fun and inspiring. great results too!

[Benji]

The last time I tried painting that kind of plastic, the paint stayed on for about two months they it began flaking off. Didja use special paint or what?

benji

[Nick_C]

Normal paint will always flake off, you need to key up the surface a little first with some sandpaper to remove any glaze, then use a "plasticiser" primer which is designed for going over plastic, then you can use the top coat of your choice.

Nick :-)

[Jim G]

Very nice job there... inspiration to experiment next year when I have the time and money :)

[Lotto]

There are couple ways to paint the plactic. One like Nick says, use a plastic primer then paint over it, or use Krylon Fusion. I used neither, just some Walmart $0.94 cheat all purpose paint, made sure to let it dry a day or 2 before handle it, and I have been using them for couple years. They don't flake, but chip/scratch easy if banged around, so I keep a spare can for touch up.

http://www.misterart.com/store/view.cfm?group_id=6902332&store=003&AID=9483419&PID=2038439

BTW, my original 'prototype' was to made a bigger reflector for the AB, to get better spread of light on the background. As you can see below, it's pretty simple to do: make an adaptor out of 1/2" plywood, cut the bottom of the 99 cents bowl out, screw it on, and paint. The tub is heavier and needs more weight distribution, thus more complex.

Like others have said, DIY stuffs are fun and productive, the best part is that I can make something precisely meet my need, and doing it relatively cheap:lol:

http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/ABreflc1.jpg

http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/ABreflc2.jpg

[hard12find]

Where do you find the softbox covers??? Looks like something I could do..Jim

[SkipD]

As far as paint goes - I learned something a few years back when I had to buy and paint a plastic molding for an automobile. It was a "spoiler" under the front of a 1992 Pontiac Grand Prix.

The part came in black, but was supposed to be the body color. So, I had some body color paint (left over from a repair job - my body shop gave me the extra paint) and shot it with an airbrush. A few weeks later, it started peeling off big time. I talked to my body shop owner friend, and he said that I needed to use a special two-part epoxy primer designed for the purpose.

After removing the original paint and lightly sanding the whole part, I shot it with the epoxy and then recoated with the body color. It never even hinted at coming off after that, and we owned the car for several more years.

Check with your local auto body shops and see if they can either provide you with the materials (assuming you have a way to spray it) or possibly get them to spray on the primer for you. You won't be sorry going this way.

[Capt Rick]

Lotto,,,What size are your white reflector's? Is it just a regular white sheet? What brand?

[GyRob]

This really looks good and the shots look great very well thought out and great job done showing the setup.
Rob.

[Lotto]

Jim, the cover/sock is a piece of white fabric with a elastic band sewed around it. I asked Mom to make one for me.

Thanks Skip, you know the auto body repair stuffs.

Capt Rick, my reflector is a 36x48" white foamcord board, I got it from Michaels.

[hard12find]

Jim, the cover/sock is a piece of white fabric with a elastic band sewed around it. I asked Mom to make one for me.
Thanks Lotto...they looked so professional I was sure they were purchased.
Jim

[Nick_C]

That's why we have mom's!

Nick ;-)

[JMHPhotography]

Nice... I do have to ask, what prompted you to do this project? Was there a particular need that you needed filled to which there was no solution like solid round catchlights, or was it just a money saving thing? Speaking of which, could you give us a cost and time breakdown of the system.

[Lotto]

John, I have bunch of friends of the same ages, we all grew up together and had kids about the same time. I started taking pictures for the kids after I got my DSLR and Speedlites, they liked my pictures better than the ones they shot with p/s and build in flash. Seeing the pics I took on their Xmas cards motivated me to learn and make better flash photos. I started to made my shares of the light modifiers to soften the speedlites, from tupperware, to beauty dish and softboxes.

There's no particular real need for stuffs I made, I mean with the right adapter, I am sure one could find the same equipments available in the market. I just enjoy using hand tools to make things and give my brain some exercises once a while, beats drinking beers and watching TV all Sunday. So it's not the money saving thing, just another hobby.

As for the cost of this perticular mod: the tub costs $8, nuts and bolts about $5. I have access to scrap metals, and already have the tools to cut, drill, and tap, so the out of pocket cost is low. I spent about 3 hours for the actual cutting and painting, and countless hours searching on the net for ideas :) I don't like to buy things online, so I try to use the commonly available items and keep to cost to minimum.

[Lotto]

Sure, I will try.

First of all, cutting the platic tub is the easy part. With the Dremel and cutting disk, shaving off the unwanted platic only takes minutes. I spent most of the time on making the speed ring/adapter. I need the adapter as a seperate unit, so I can bolt it to different size and shape of modifiers.

I wanted this modifier to fit both the Alien Bees and the Speedlites. To mount the Speedlites, I fabricate couple metal L brackets and have the flashes secured on to the L brackets. For mounting on the AB, I would just remove the L brackets. To clear the mounting bolts for the L bracket, I need the adapter ring sticking out though the back of the tub.

So what I ened up with were 3 major pieces: the wooden adapter ring that goes on the AB, the metal ring serves the mounting points for the L bracket and connects the wooden ring to the tub, and last the platic tub.

To cut the right size hole for the AB, I used the 7" reflector comes with the Bees to draw the template for the inner circle on the wood ring, the CDRW spindle happens to be the righ size for the outer circle. The inner openning of the metal ring is sized between the 2 wooden ones.

After cutting up both rings and smooth out the edes, I drill 6 holes through both ring, and bolt them gother with machine screws and nuts. Then I slap the rings on to the tub, drill some more small holes for more machine screws and 2 bigger ones for the L bracket mounting bolts.

That's pretty it for the tub mod. After that, I made the right size L brackets for different speedlights, and have the tub painted.

I repost the picuture for easier reading.

http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/tubcombo.jpg

[Alec Trevelyan]

You should start selling those! Incredible!

[jmanser]

Very clever! You should be the next Gary Fong.

[Stackinchips]

ups

[michael_]

You should start selling those! Incredible!

my thoughts

[Atomic79]

I'm thinking trying something similar but using one of these as the base.

Parabolic Reflectors (http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp?pn=3053875&sid=google&cm_mmc=google-_-cpc-_-edmu-_-parabolicmirrors&bhcd2=1178588936)

[Saturation]

Selling these yet? Put my name on the list if you are! I'll even kick in a little extra for the beer cost! If you like money I suggest you start making them for you POTN family!

[caaeon]

ohhh interesting...

[jclaveria]

Selling these yet? Put my name on the list if you are! I'll even kick in a little extra for the beer cost! If you like money I suggest you start making them for you POTN family!

Would love to be on the waiting list for this tub.

[KrautFed]

FYI, this thread is 4.5 years old :lol: